UVM Students Receive National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships

Two University of Vermont graduate students and one recent UVM undergraduate were awarded National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships for the 2011 competition. The award is one of the most prestigious and most lucrative for students who wish to pursue a graduate degree in the sciences or social sciences.

Allison Neal is a second-year graduate student studying ecology and evolutionary biology. A Vermont native, Neal came to UVM on a Green and Gold Scholarship, joined the Honors College, and started her research career by volunteering in Professor Joseph Schall’s lab. Under Schall’s mentorship, she wrote her honors undergraduate thesis and continued to win awards and publish her work as a graduate student in his lab.

Scott Hamshaw ’06 also received a fellowship. He graduated as a civil engineering major and is planning to return to the University of Vermont to pursue a master’s degree in civil engineering.

David Seekil ’09, a natural resources major and a Rubenstein graduate, also received a fellowship. He is currently pursuing a graduate degree in ecosystems ecology at the University of Virginia.

The awards, which are available for graduating seniors, first and second year graduate students, offer a tuition stipend, a research stipend, and a $30,000 living stipend for three years of graduate work.

In addition, Gwen Buel ’09, Graham Hagen-Peter ‘10, and Jonathan Hulce ‘10 were awarded Honorable Mention status in the NSF-GRFP competition. Buel was a biochemistry major and graduate of the Honors College and the College of Arts and Sciences. She is pursuing a doctorate in cell and molecular biology at Harvard University. Hagen-Peter was a geology major and a graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences; he is studying geology at the University of California-Santa Barbara. Hulce was a chemistry major and a graduate of the Honors College and the College of Arts and Sciences; he is studying chemical biology at the Scripps Research Institute in California. Adam Clark, an incoming UVM graduate student, also received an Honorable Mention in the competition.